Previewing Freedom-Burns football

By Clark Leonard

Published: Wednesday, November 14, 2012 at 02:42 PM.

Defensively, the trio of Damerrian Petty, Sa’Darius Byers and Josh Ramseur along the defensive line has made running the ball difficult for opponents. The Bulldogs may have to adjust depending on the status of Petty, who Beam said dislocated his elbow last Friday.

Freedom running back David Burgess has totaled 2,580 yards and 28 touchdowns on 284 carries. Quarterback Shawn Fairchild has thrown for 1,550 yards and 22 scores, with Khris Gardin accounting for 1,098 of those yards and 14 touchdowns on 59 receptions.

The Patriots average 416.3 yards and 37.6 points while surrendering 262.6 yards and 17.1 points.

Notable: Burns has won nine straight games since a 1-3 start. Freedom is 11-1 since a season-opening loss to South Caldwell. The only defeat in that span came at Burns, 31-21, on Sept. 21. Burns held Burgess to 93 yards on 23 carries, and Freedom was held to 75 yards rushing, more than 200 below its average that night.

What Burns coach Matt Beam is saying:

“We know what we’re going to get. You’re going to get David Burgess running it a lot. You’re going to get Khris Gardin catching it a lot. The question is going to come down to whether or not we have the ability to stop them. And not many people have been stopping (Burgess) right now. He’s pretty much been running wild lately.

“We know that we’re 48 minutes away from playing for the Western regional title again. We had this goal. A lot of people may not have thought it, but these kids and these coaches really had the goal of getting the opportunity to go back and give ourselves a chance to win a state championship. So we know there’s a big task ahead for us.

Last season: Burns (13-2) reached the 3A Western finals before losing to West Rowan; Freedom (10-1) wasn’t allowed by NCHSAA rules to participate in the playoffs after an in-game fight late in the season.

Football Tradition: Burns won the 1994 3A state championship, and the Bulldogs, who have made 17 playoff appearances since 1988, have currently won three straight outright conference championships for the first time ... Freedom entered this postseason with just eight playoff victories since 1972 and has added two to that total. The Patriots’ only previous trip to the third round was in the 4A playoffs in 1987. Freedom has never reached the fourth round in the NCHSAA postseason.

Key wins: Burns — Freedom, Shelby; Freedom — Shelby, East Henderson

Key players: Burns’ offense starts with quarterback Chris Montgomery, a strong runner who has also hit on some key passes of late. Running back Tylan Ruff has more than 1,300 yards this season. The trio of receiver Gilbert Brooks, Travon Hunt and Jaylin Hill give the Bulldogs other options.

Defensively, the trio of Damerrian Petty, Sa’Darius Byers and Josh Ramseur along the defensive line has made running the ball difficult for opponents. The Bulldogs may have to adjust depending on the status of Petty, who Beam said dislocated his elbow last Friday.

Freedom running back David Burgess has totaled 2,580 yards and 28 touchdowns on 284 carries. Quarterback Shawn Fairchild has thrown for 1,550 yards and 22 scores, with Khris Gardin accounting for 1,098 of those yards and 14 touchdowns on 59 receptions.

The Patriots average 416.3 yards and 37.6 points while surrendering 262.6 yards and 17.1 points.

Notable: Burns has won nine straight games since a 1-3 start. Freedom is 11-1 since a season-opening loss to South Caldwell. The only defeat in that span came at Burns, 31-21, on Sept. 21. Burns held Burgess to 93 yards on 23 carries, and Freedom was held to 75 yards rushing, more than 200 below its average that night.

What Burns coach Matt Beam is saying:

“We know what we’re going to get. You’re going to get David Burgess running it a lot. You’re going to get Khris Gardin catching it a lot. The question is going to come down to whether or not we have the ability to stop them. And not many people have been stopping (Burgess) right now. He’s pretty much been running wild lately.

“We know that we’re 48 minutes away from playing for the Western regional title again. We had this goal. A lot of people may not have thought it, but these kids and these coaches really had the goal of getting the opportunity to go back and give ourselves a chance to win a state championship. So we know there’s a big task ahead for us.

“I was a little bit disappointed in the performance of our defense (vs. Hickory). I don’t think we tackled as well as we should have. Now we come up with some big plays and come up with some big turnovers. Those were great plays, but all in all, we never got off the field on third down. But we’re going to correct those things and see if we can fix some of those up, and I think we’ll get better this week.”